Welcome to my blog! I'm Abu, short for Abuela. I'm married to the Professor. We live on a small hobby "farm" in the beautiful Fingerlakes Region of Central New York.
As long as I can remember, I have loved making things. I spin, knit, felt, sew, weave, embroider; well, just about anything fibery.
In addition to being a fiberist, I am also a shepherdess. The Fleeceful Kingdom is home to a small flock of Shetland sheep.
I'll be sharing my creative adventures, the joys of raising Shetlands, and about trying to live simply and sustainably.

07/10/2011

I sure feel like I had my stuffing knocked out last week! Whew! The week flew past, and the next thing I knew, it was Friday, and all the moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas, brothers, sisters, it seemed like all of Auburn was there for our art exhibition!

We had a great time! We dyed yarn and roving, made felt balls and ropes, finger knit jump ropes and shoelaces, spool knit crazy animals, and wove tapestries on cardboard looms.

Three parents came up to me during the "show" and told me my class was the only thing their kid talked about all week! They said it was fun to have something different rather than the usual painting class. They loved that I talked about history, and that the kids learned to do something with their hands other than play with video games, iPods, cell phones, etc.

07/05/2011

Art camp started bright and early this morning, and did we have a blast! I have the older kids this week, ages 9-12, and they really held their attention as I discussed different fibers and their uses.

Poor Georgie. He really wanted to go to camp with me.

But there really was no room in the car, it was packed to the gills. So in his place, I told the kids how the wool is harvested, washed, carded, spun and dyed.

The fun really started when we got to spin. I bought ten top whirl drop spindles from The Bellwether last winter.

When you buy her spindles in bulk, you get a discount! I just love these drop spindles! (Yikes! After checking the link, the price has gone up. But if you are buying in bulk, you still get a discount, and I think it is a great way to introduce kids to spinning without breaking the bank).

Today the kids really stayed focused. You could hear a pin drop, they were concentrating so hard. One little boy said, "I can't do this!" I reminded him in baseball you don't hit a home run the first time you swing a bat (well, maybe with beginner's luck). It takes practice and patience to learn something new. I showed him why he was having trouble; and then he got it, and blasted off!

When I announced that we forgot to take a break for snack time, they said,

"Awwww. Do we have to stop?"!!!

"Can we spin while we have our snacks?"!!!

Oh my gosh! I think I have a next generation of spinners on my hands!

After snack, we talked about the color wheel and did some Kool-Aid dyeing.

I overheard the little boy who had trouble spinning tell another classmate, "I want to come to art camp every summer!"

06/13/2011

Before I left for Saori Worcester, I finished a tee for Frida, who is in desperate need of summer clothes. I had to draw on an inner reserve of courage to take the scissors and cut! I measured her, cut a paper pattern out of newspaper, and prayed a lot! Thankfully, it fit!

In the second heat wave of the season, I made my way to Saori Worcester, praying my car would not overheat in the Berkshires. The drive was uneventful, and I actually arrived a little early. Mihoko suggested we get started right away.

I had brought all my weaving since my last class, and spent the next hour in a one-on-one show and tell. Mihoko provided her gentle feedback, suggesting different techniques, sewing and cutting tips, etc. She left all my samples out for the other students to look at when they arrived for the 6:30 class.

Throughout the rest of the week, the positive feedback from other students was very rewarding and encouraging, and will buoy me along until I return to the Worcester studio in early August.

As much fun and encouraging as the studio time was, the highlight of my trip was a visit to an inner city elementary school that has a partnership program with Saori Worcester. Mihoko's husband, Nat, asked me if I wanted to go and help teach a Saori class of 5th graders. I jumped at the chance, and 9 a.m. Wednesday morning, we were buzzed in through the locked and barred doors of the xxx School of Science & Technology.

It was explained to me the school had found some table looms in storage; then put out the word to other schools in the district to search their attics. The result produced 20 table looms in various degrees of unkeptness. Mihoko told me they spent a lot of time scrubbing and cleaning the looms to return them to working order. The art teacher was then trained in Saori techniques, and the program put in place.

The next 45 minutes were the fastest minutes of the day! The students filed in the classroom, and grabbed their table looms (two students per loom). Boxes of various yarns of different textures and colors were produced, and the students got down to work. I love the idea that the students were working in teams on their looms. The lesson for the day was two-color interlock. I went up to a bunch of boys and asked if they knew how to do the technique. They said no, so I demonstrated and asked if they wanted to give it a try. They were off, so I moved on to my next group. I praised their use of color and texture, the bits of treasure they had woven in. The girls giggled and laughed and at me, as 5th grade girls will do. But it didn't matter. I was having such a good time. We had to practically shout to hear one another, the sound level was so high!

Then one boy came up to me and asked if I would show him how to add feathers in his weaving. Sure! So we went over to his loom, he produced a handful of feathers, and I showed him how to tuck them in. Once I was assured he was okay, I left him to his own, and continued moving around, offering help where needed.

As the class came to an close, these "tough" inner city kids didn't want to put their looms away! They didn't want it to end! The teacher had to ask several times for the kids to clean up and put things away. There was another flurry of activity as the room was set in motion. But then, there was a tug on my arm. "Miss! Please come here!" It was the boy with the feathers. Before I left, he wanted to show me his weaving. I went across the room, where he turned around with his loom and just about shoved it in my face! He was beaming; grinning from ear to ear, so proud of his weaving and his feathers! I will never forget his face, his smile, and the greatest gift he gave me that day.

Inspired by the school kids, this was the weaving I did in the studio class.

When I returned home, the fabric wanted to be made into a vest; my first Saori wearable!

While in Worcester, Mihoko taught me how to do a two-color interlock in a warp. When I returned home, I gave it a try.

I think I will use this fun fabric for some evening bags / cosmetic cases.

I'm almost finished with Em's b'day bag, and hope to post pics soon. Just working out some technical details.

I did some cold process dyeing on my return from Worcester, before the poppies and bachelor buttons disappear.

Tia Sari returned from CR due to a knee injury, so Em and the girls came by for a visit. Did I mention Sundays are Georgie's favorite day? Oh, how I love my Little Shepherdess!

Wherever you go today, whatever you do; may you do it with all your heart.

Her goal is "To live for one year, in clothes made from fibers that are solely sourced within a geographical region no larger than 150 miles from my front door; this includes the natural dye colors as well!"

This was part of my motivation to have a flax and dye garden. A challenge to myself. Could I grow my own clothes??? I have the Shetlands for my nice warm woolies, but what about the one day of summer? Cotton is out. Can I grow flax and hemp in Central New York?

In my research about flax, it is a 1-1/2 to 2 year project, from seed to actual garment!!! Can you imagine our fore sisters growing their own clothes? Which is probably why they only had one dress. And why clothes were handed down and stitched and patched and stitched some more. Which brings me back to the thought about telling time through cloth.

I'm embarassed when I open my closet! (But now I see it as potential). I haven't done a F*R*U*gal project for a while, so it was time to dust some of those clothes off and make something of them.

In case you missed my previous posts, F*R*U*gal means I'm a Free, Reuse, and Upcycle kind of gal. Here is what I'm working on today:

Em, if you're reading this, stop here!

M's birthday is coming up, and I thought I would make her a market bag type thingy. My inspiration came from a bag a woman brought to Saori Worcester last month.

The "What if it did matter?" will continue to be a big question for me. It brings me back to all the research I did in school on fair trade, child labor, the environmental damage caused by the textile industry, women's cooperatives, my idea of bringing back the local mills (they were all up and down the outlet at the turn of the century), putting local people back to work, knitting from wind power, connecting with other local fiber producers, etc., etc. Oh, I need to go and weave to calm myself. This is too big a question for my little brain!

05/22/2011

Well, I got carried away. My dye bundles were just begging to be unwrapped, for me to take a peek inside.

Just those few little hyacinth blossoms I picked off the stem gave all this beautiful color!

Too pretty to toss, I pressed them in a phonebook for some future project. (Everyone in my house knows not to throw away a phonebook without checking for hidden treasures)!

Now what to do with all these pretty cloths? I can hear a low whisper. Maybe piece them together? Stitch. Sew. Pull. Cut in strips? Weave. Hmmm. I'm listening.

I finished the lilac scarf on Friday.

I couldn't wait to get a new warp on the loom. But I ran into a wall. I was reading a post about Saori and realized, it's not so much the color or design that makes the fabric. It's the texture. I'm really frustrated because I don't have a candy store of yarn to choose from when I sit at my loom. So Friday night I thought, "I won't let that stop me. I'll just have to make my own!" I sat with my drop spindle and some colored roving left over from a class. I gathered bits of threads, leftover fabric scraps, thrums, embroidery floss, etc. But by then, after pondering this dilemma all day, I was tired, and decided to wait until morning.

Saturday, I thought, "Don't make too much of a deal about this. Just listen to the yarn. Don't start with any preconceived idea about what it will or will not be. Just do it!"

I opened the cupboard, threw on the warp, dressed the loom in record time, because company was coming, and I needed to get the warp tied on. Sometimes maybe a little deadline pressure is a good thing.

Another thought. Maybe a little of something is better than a whole lot. Like chocolate. It's nice to savor. To let the rich flavor roll around and melt in your mouth. It's really fun to do the interlock technique, but maybe just a little bit here and there gives more interest.

I've sent in an application for a juried Art in the Park show at the end of June, so I will really have to hussle if we get accepted (Em will be selling her handknitted baby items). New items have been posted to Etsy. Please check it out: http://www.etsy.com/shop/fleecefulkingdom

I planted the flax garden and transplanted my dye plants, and then we had a week of heavy rain. Oh, my poor little plants. I've prayed over them every day. I'm not much of a gardener; I have a lot to learn. They looked so sad.

But yesterday, the sun finally broke! The flax is up and looks good!

I am following the Japanese method of no-till gardening. I spent the winter reading the "One Straw Revolution" by Masanobu Fukuoka. He is a pioneer and practitioner of natural farming. We'll have to see. It's an ongoing experiment!

05/18/2011

I feel like the mad scientist, throwing things into boiling pots and hovering to see what will happen.

I hope I don't blow up the house! Actually, I am being very careful and using eco-friendly methods of dyeing.

On Sunday at breakfast, I looked up at my spent mother's day bouquet (a gift from Em and the girls). It was time for the compost heap. But wait! Look at those petals! They still have color in them! What would happen if ...

I am cold processing these wraps. The three bundles on the left are purple and pink hyacinth blossoms, either wrapped, or folded then wrapped, and tied with string. The bundle on the right is from red tulip petals! I had color before I could even wrap it up! They are not supposed to be unwrapped for a week, but I have so much color already. Okay. Hold on. I can't stand it any longer.

These are the little blossoms that gave all that wonderful color! Now it is hung it to dry for a couple of days before rinsing.

I had to put a line in the house because of all the darn rain! (The Professor has been working in the garage lately. I think he's building an ark!)

The colors are lovely. I hope they last. I haven't read anywhere about dyeing with hyacinths or tulips. The Professor says, "I guess this means you will be planting bulbs in the fall."

I taught a knitting class yesterday: Socks on Two Circular Needles. We had such a good time. I forgot in just a short time how much I love to teach; to pass on what I have learned. Besides teaching them the magic loop method of knitting socks on two needles, I taught them a new cast-on, how to tell if the stitch is on the needle backward and how to correct it, and how to take stitches out without taking them off your needle. I always learn so much more when I teach; I love the problem-solving part of knitting!

Pleasant the Pheasant stopped by this morning to say hello.

But then my sheepies reminded him it was their pasture, and to please move along!

The sheepies are growing into their haircuts and don't look so much like aliens. Georgie has completely recovered. I think he was limping last week just to get some extra peppermints and scritchies! (Just kidding).

I am sending a big hug along with this post so you don't have to go around limping!

05/14/2011

Oh, I'm having so much fun! I've been dyeing with forsythia and dandelions!

I had some Romney that I was playing around with trying to learn Navajo 3-ply since I only have two bobbins for my wheel. I pre-mordanted the wool with cream of tarter; then let it simmer in the dandelion dye for an hour.

Dandelion-dyed homespun hung on the line to dry.

The color is very subtle; a pale yellow-green. The next day, as I was doing dishes and looking out the kitchen window, my eyes fell on the forsythia blooming beside the garage. It's just about to loose all it's blossoms. Oh, goody! I thought I had better seize the opportunity while I had it!

The forsythia is on the left; dandelion on the right. Underneath is a forsythia-printed piece of linen which had previously been tea-dyed.

This past week I was busy weaving a scarf for the librarian who has so graciously helped me this year: scheduling rooms, emailing students of time and day changes, reminders. Oh so much of the little details that we tend to overlook, but that I appreciated throughout the year. This is for Meredith, woven in the Saori free-form style, with a great big Thank You!!!

I love the colors. They remind me of the beach. It seems I am always thinking of the beach. I am just a fish out of water, although there is water right out my window; it's just not the same!

I've continued working on my "gesture" weavings this week. I'm having so much fun. Kind of a synopsis of each day, some observations, some exploration. It's a very nice way to end the day.

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

I need to talk with the Professor about binding them in some kind of book. He's the resident book expert. I'll have to see what he suggests.

Today is cloudy and cool. A perfect day for picking some newly-shorn fleeces and some more spinning! What should I dye with next?

Fleece be with you,

Abu

PS Georgie is doing much better. He is not limping as much and is hanging with the flock. Thank you for your suggestions!

Welcome to my blog! I'm Abu, short for Abuela. I'm married to the Professor. We live on a small "farm" in the beautiful Fingerlakes Region of Central New York. I'll be posting on my journey to create a more simple life way.